April Journeyman Inspirements

KNOW

Read this article on Joseph Banks, an early enthusiastic botanist.

Go to this website to learn about plant cell basics.  Just roll over each part in the picture and a short explanation will come up for you to read.  Then you can play the game to identify the plant cell parts.

Study this diagram about the cycle of photosynthesis.

INTELLIGENCE    Do one of these:

Share a poem or a story about plants or trees that inspires you.


Find an interesting way to teach us about photosynthesis.

Teach us about a plant cell using some sort of visual. 


UNDERSTANDING    Do one of these:

Make a plan to begin a garden in your yard.  It could be a flower garden, a vegetable garden, or a combination of the two.  If you already have one, ask your parents if you could have a small section of it for a garden of your own.  Plan out what you will plant, what you will need to do to prepare the soil, and where the plants will go.  Bring a drawing of your garden plan.

Take pictures of 10 different kinds of trees and identify them.

Draw or paint a picture of a particular tree or flower that is beautiful to you and bring it to class.

Write your own poem about nature, the forest, trees, or something like that.

April Master Inspirements

"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces,

I would still plant my apple tree."

-Martin Luther

KNOW

Read about Carl Linnaeus here.

Read about Dr. Nathaniel Ward here.

There are other botanists of this time that you can look up on PlantExplorers.com if you're interested.

UNDERSTAND    Do one of these:

Do some research on Seed Savers Exchange.  Find out when it was organized, who’s involved, and what they do.  In your opinion, is this an important work they are doing?  Why or why not?

Do a little research on xylem and phloem.  Tell us what part of the tree they are and what role they play.

Do the plants around you have benefits to us besides their beauty?  Identify plants in your yard or your area that have other uses and what those uses are.

Identify poisonous plants or trees and tell us how we can recognize them (so we can avoid them  :) ).

Start your own seeds for a plant (or plants) you’d like to grow.  Take care of it indoors until it is ready to be “hardened off,” and then plant it.  For class, you can tell us what seed(s) you planted and when you plan to put it/them outside.

What project would you like to do in your yard?  If you have something you would really like to do, plan it out, find out if it’s ok with Mom and Dad, figure out how to make it happen, and do it.  Tell us about it in class.

Is there a plant or tree that is not doing so well, in your yard?  If so, find out what’s wrong with it and what you can do to help it.  Some plants or trees just need a little TLC.  A little digging around it to aerate the soil, maybe some manure dug into the dirt around it, or maybe it has a disease you can do something about.  It might just not be getting enough water.  See if you can save it!  Use your initiative to make a difference.  Tell us what you find out.

INTELLIGENCE   

Come and help us plant a tree and some flowers at the church where we've been holding our Vanguard classes.  Bring some gardening gloves and a small shovel.  You can bring a treat if you like :)  We'll talk about our inspirements while we're there.